Improvement in refrigerating-cars



T. L. RANKIN. BEFRIGERATING GAR.

N0.'11'0,394. Patented Dec. 20-, 1870.

THE NORRIS PETERS co Puo'roumm wasnmsron o c i in drops,

that the following is a full, clear,

$itiit$ Letters Patent lilo. 110,394, dated December 20, 1870.

, "IMPROVEMENT lNREFRlGERATlNG OARS.

The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and making part of the lame.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, TnoMAs L. RASKIN, of Granville, in the county of Putnam and in the State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Refrige-rator-Cars; and do hereby declare and exact description thereof, reference being had vto the accompanying drawing and to the letters of reference marked thereon. making apart of this specification.

The nature of my invention consists in the construction and arrangement 'of a refrigerating and condensing-car for the shipment of meat, as will be here.- iuafter fully set forth. I v

In order to enable others skilled in the art to which my invention appertains to make and use the same, I will now proceed to describe its construction and operat-iou, referring to the annexed drawiiw, in which- I- C Figure 1 is a plan view, and

Figure 2 is a transverse vertical section of so much of a railroad-car as is necessary to illustrate my invention. 1

A represents the roof of a railroad-ear provided on top with ice-boxes B B, of any suitable size and shape.

The bottoms of these boxes are inclined, as shown in fig. 2, toward the sides, for a twofold purpose; first, for the purpose of allowing the ice-water to run off through the pipe a into a trough, 0, arranged within the car, and from said trough out through the pipe I); and second, so that the moisture which is condensed or frozeuagainst its under side will not form but adhere until it reaches the projecting or lowest point, and drop into the trough and pass off with the ice-water.

On top of the ice'in each box or chamber ll is placed a follower, D, which is provided with packing around its edges, and which, as the ice melts away,

follows the ice down, preventing any space from being formedabove the ice, and thus adapting the size of the ice-chamber to the amount of ice remaining in it.

When used as a refrigerating-cur, the walls of the car are lined with five plies of heavy pasteboard or other equivalent material, making six half-inch airspaces between the walls.

01' it may be used only for reducing the temperature within the car without refrigerating, by means of suitable mixture placed in the chambers L B, which will condense the moist -u'e and form a frost on the under sides of said chambers. This will bring the atmosphere in the car to such a degree of dryness that the meat will keep for several days. In a car made as airtight as possible, meat can be shipped from northern Texas to b ew York, a distance of about fourteen hundred miles, in seventy hours, without having to reduce the temperature below seventy or eighty degrees, and the meat will be in a better state than if it was reduced to thirty-four or thirtysix degrees, for the reason that, if it has been refrigerated down to this degree, it will spoil very soon after bringing it out. s

Having thus fully 'lcscribed my invention,

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,

The arrangement, upon each side of the walk upon thetop of the railroad-car A, of the inclined boxes BB, with followers D and spouts (Heading into the troughs c, from which extend pipes 1: outside of the car, all substantially as set forth.

In testimony that I claim tl1e-. forcgoing hereunto set my hand 1 have this 9th day of May, 1870.

THOMAS L. R-ANKlN.

Witnesses:

CONRAD L. Seaman,

Trmonoms HOLLY.

that dtifim 

